Life After Google?

I still remember the day the beast turned nasty and boy was I nervous. You see I had made the classic mistake of relying too heavily on the Google monster, you've no doubt heard the phrase "all my eggs in one basket" well that was pretty much me, but now I was on the verge of my basket being filled with an omelette…

Before the worm turned I had managed good success, implementing strategies mastered by attending countless webinars and reading a ton of books. Less than $5 dollar leads a 15-20% conversion to sales ratio, my budget increasing exponentially, thus more sales. Then the first slap, closely followed by another and then the threat of a lifetime ban!? I turned everything off and, luckily, deleted all my campaigns, had I just paused them then the mother of all slaps and a lifetime ban would have become a reality…so if you are reading this and still have paused campaigns following a slap, DELETE them now.

So, I analysed the fallout, 2,000 leads a month became 200, sales dried up and here I was looking into the abyss, I needed new sources of traffic and I needed them fast. I soon realised with my success on Google, I had been neglecting what is the core of a sustained career online….me. I had not invested nearly enough time in "Me Inc." This had to change. So I devised a new strategy, it was not rocket science and soon started bearing results. The key components were as follows:

1. Invest more time in a simple blog. Not to blatantly pitch my opportunity but simply let people know who I was and how I could help them and offer value in exchange for their patronage.

2. Articles, articles, articles. I set a target of 7 new articles a week.

3. Implement a content distribution strategy, thus "buying" up more and more Internet real estate.

4. Combining article writing with video production offering value and trust, thus building a following that would listen when I offered solutions to their situations and giving them the opportunity to break free from their current torpor.

5. Social Media. Sure I had a Facebook, Twitter and YouTube account but had I really applied myself to get the most out of them…No! So a diligent and creative approach began and I was amazed at the results, which continues to this day. Follow me on www.twitter.com/JohnnyWallace

6. My list. Sitting there with thousands of prospects that I kept in contact with, but I didn't just want contact I wanted a relationship, a relationship that involved trust meaning, once again, if I were offering solutions people would sit up and listen.

7. List Builders. I left this till last as this was the biggest source of traffic and sales. I signed up to more than one and even had multiple accounts with the same provider. My copywriting skills improved ten-fold and I started generating top ticket sales earning $1000's in single commissions from a product that cost $400 for a years subscription to their top platinum membership. Leads, and quality leads at that, costing 50c each!!

I still use PPC at the moment solely Bing and I will be back on Google in the near future. But the purpose of this is to push the notion that it is possible to have a lucrative online business without relying heavily on Google, all of the above are low cost solutions and anyone new to this great industry should build their brand without exception. In the long run Google will be a much more stable and effective platform to market your business, no more conmen, scammers and charlatans, no more ridiculous income claims, the genuine opportunities will prevail and those life changing dreams will become reality.

Feeler, Thinker, Knower...Which One Are You?

Every person that steps foot on this planet of ours is one of the above... period! Sure, if you're a psychiatrist you could delve deeper and create sub-categories, but ostensibly each and every one of us falls into one of the above catergories.

Now, you can have a bit of all of them, but you will always have a leading trait...which one are you? Me, I'm a "thinker" first, and then split between a "feeler" and "knower" depending on the scenario. Now, the next step is how you recognise these people, and gaining this knowledge will help you in your social and business life, if you can quickly determine a persons trait you will be able to develop a relationship faster and control it's progression, especially from a business perspective...

So let's look at each type and in this instance let's assume each one of the above are eating out at a restaurant...

Mr Knower arrives at the restaurant with his wife and even before he sets foot inside he will have pretty much made up his mind what he will be eating and very possibly what his wife will to!! If he has visited the diner before he will certainly know what will arrive on his plate. Knowers are the intuitive ones: they may not actually know how they made the decision, but they are sure it’s right (incidentally this certainty of being right doesn’t actually make them more right than anyone else!).

Next to arrive is Mr Thinker, now, once seated he will read every page on the menu checking out each ingredient in every dish, maybe to see if he thinks the combination works, or to check that he has no allergy to scotch bonnet chilli or whatever, he will consider whether the food offers value for money...then of course the wine menu, what would compliment what he's about to consume...are you beginning to get the picture?

So, now Mr Feeler arrives. As he enters he will check out every other table before being seated, he wants to see what dishes appeal to him, he will take in the aromas from tables and kitchen looking for something to stimulate him into choosing, because this guy is ruled by his heart, his feelings will determine his choice.

Each will take differing times to order , ordinarily Mr Knower will have ordered first, followed by Mr Feeler who by now would have been seduced into a selection, meanwile Mr Thinker is still devouring the menu and wine list!!

So what is the point of all of this? Think about it. From a business perspective when dealing with prospects, if you can ascertain which group your prospect falls into, you will be able to react appropriately, satisfying the needs of each social group member, thus increasing your chances of a successful outcome...believe me I use this day in day out and if you master it you to will see the results...however, should you ever come across someone who says, "I think I know how I feel", you're on your own!

Leadership = Success

When I first began my online business I was unsure what skills would be most important to guarantee success...technical nous, creativity, copywriting skills, video marketing the list was long and exhaustive. There were so many thoughts on what I should master first that I overlooked the most important success defining factor...LEADERSHIP.

Without it you will drift in the doldrums of mediocrity destined for failure. You could be a grea copywriter, a PPC maestro, you may also have the best product to market but without enduring leadership these skills will not convert to hard cash. If you lack leadership maybe you should take a long look in the mirror and ask some hard questions, "Am I cut out to run my own business?", "Should I not just get a job where I get a reasonable salary in return for my undoubted skills?"

Now, I'm not for one moment saying that you should enter back into the Rat Race, but and this is a big "but", you have to be realistic and understand that you must possess or begin to learn leadership skills.

You often hear the phrase "born leader", now that's great, but if you weren't, hey learn!! And you can, leadership can be developed. Find the leaders in your midst and study them...what do they say, study their body language, how do they dress, dissect everything about them and begin adding those facets to your skills and grow as a person.

The biggest mistake home business owners make is when speaking to prospects. You must control the conversation on your terms and get them to follow your lead, if you are to recruit them they must believe in "You Inc". Remember they will do what you do and say, my friend.

So get out there and create that leadership mindset and see the difference it will bring....

I Can't Afford To Go To The Event….

I remember saying that and I had convinced myself I was right, my sponsor put forward a compelling argument, but I thought it would be better to use the expense needed to add to my marketing budget, that I would wait until I was generating better sales….

Move forward 6 months and the next one came around, in Lake Tahoe, Nevada to be exact. I compared my sales over that period to the previous few months and while there had been an increase that could only be put down to my greater knowledge of the industry I had entered, but this improvement still did not have me at the level I had set myself. My sponsor once again put forward his argument, but this time with added vigour, "did I want to be successful?" or was I happy to just make ends meet, you know, just like most J.O.Bs.

I had to listen to his compelling argument, because here was a 7 figure income earner at the top of his game, and me potentially ignoring his advice. So I scraped together the money and head west to the beautiful resort of Lake Tahoe. I live in the UK so after many hundreds of dollars and a 27 hour door to door journey, I finally arrived.

Immediately I had the feeling I had made the right decision, the enthusiasm generated by fellow attendees, was apparent from the welcome reception….could this really be life affirming?

Four information packed, educational and jaw dropping days later I returned, my head spinning with the near overload I had experienced. But hey, guess what my productivity increased exponentially, I did not want to waste the golden nuggets given to me, I had to utilise the education that I had received. 3 months passed, 3 mentions on the "Saturday Superstars" list and a bank account that said "go on treat yourself"!! The Tahoe event was in March 2009, I have attended two further events in the Dominican Republic and Las Vegas since and guess what….yep my business has gone from strength to strength. Now I find myself having the same conversations with my burgeoning team members as I had with my sponsor, to the point that if they want my full commitment to their success then they must repay that by attending the same events.

There is no substitute for the impact attending events will have on your business, there is not one, and I mean not one, successful online entrepreneur who has made their fortune without pitching up regularly to these life changing events. So, to put it bluntly, get your head out of the sand, find the money and make the next one, alternatively there's always a J*O*B out there for you….